Unreachable
by Chiharu-Chan
Summary: Revised. When you've spent your whole life chasing after your goals and dreams, how can you still stand it when you never achieve? Takes place after the manga. Mari x Nichrome. -one shot-


If you don't know already, I might as well make this clear right now. Yes, my heart stays with Nichrome, not Hao. Ducks shoes being thrown from Hao fan-girls But of course, I love him too. But since I can't possibly fight long enough with the rest of the Hao fan-girls to keep standing, I'll take the next best thing.  
  
Glomps Nichrome  
  
Anyway, if you don't know how he is. Well, you should. Anyway, Nichrome's 10th priest of Patch and also a judge for the Shaman fights. And er, he works for Hao. So there, that's all you need to know, for now.

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Disclaimer I don't own Shaman King, sadly.  
  
**Unreachable**  
  
By: Chiharu-chan  
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The boy sighed, walking onto the porch. He slowly pushed the door open before letting out a light yell. "I'm home!" It was barely loud enough.  
  
Just as he expected, a women came running down the stairs to greet him.  
  
His own mother.  
  
"Nichrome!" She beamed happily, hugging him closer.  
  
He couldn't help but smile. "I missed you too, mom."  
  
She let go of him. "Oh, honey. How are you? How did it go? Who won? Was it fun? Did you meet a girl?" She bombarded him with questions of the tournaments.  
  
Just he had expected. One thing that has separated his family from the rest of patch, was the fact that his mother, his beautiful and caring mother, was not a shaman. Nor was she frightened by them for all that matters.  
  
The people of the village had stopped to criticize them about it, they had already gotten used to it. Because for one thing. No one can resist long enough to hate Akemi.  
  
"It was..... Fine, mom." Nichrome quickly lied. He wasn't in the mood to explain everything about it. All the fights, the killing, the bruises, the gang, the Hao.  
  
"Alright." His mother smiled cheerfully. The fact that she didn't care enough about the shaman Tournament wasn't a big enough factor, for no human in the right mind would have wanted to what people kill each other.  
  
"Oh, honey. Look at that -thing- you're waring!" She paused to stare at his Judge coat.  
  
"I..." He started to talk, but stopped. "I'll change..." He said, heading toward the stairs.  
  
No, it wasn't weird for his mother to fuss about the small things, even though she was suppose to be glad he's still even alive. But he wasn't in the mood to argue, at least not now.  
  
He opened the door to his bedroom, pausing to go in.  
  
The curtains on the window were pulled back, letting in the afternoon sunlight. The blue fabric of sheets on his bed was still the same. The stack of books were left untouched on the bookshelf. The laptop laid motionless on his desk, not showing any signs of its owner's long absence.  
  
Nichrome sighed, walking in. He took one took at the mirror hanging on the walls, and knew his mother wasn't lying.  
  
He looked horrible. Without caring, he pulled out a pair of jeans and a white t-shirt from his closet and dumped them on the bed.  
  
He put on hand on the zipper for his coat, slowing pulling it down. The zipper only made it halfway down when Nichrome violently jerked his entire coat off. He didn't care about whether it was torn or not.  
  
It was all just a momentum of the life he wants to forget.  
  


..............................

  
  
Nichrome sat down next to the dinning room table. Fresh from a long shower and a clean pair of cloth.  
  
His mom smiled, sitting down in the chair opposite from him, handing him a cup of tea.  
  
"Thanks." He said, taking a slip from it before she spoke up.  
  
"You know, I've been thinking." Akemi declared happily.  
  
He looked up, waiting for her to continue.  
  
"Say, sweetie. What are you going to do with your life?"  
  
Nichrome frowned, leaning back on his seat. "Gee, mom. Didn't we have this conversation before?"  
  
"I know." She smiled back. "But that was before the whole shaman tournament mess, Asakura Hao lost." She paused.  
  
Nichrome shook his head, telling her to keep on talking.  
  
"And... Well, its just that. You don't have any obligation to him anymore, you don't even have to think about being a shaman now." She continued. "You're so smart and bright, Nichrome. Plus, you've skipped all those grades. You're already 14, and now all this is over maybe you can take some time off? Travel around the world? I sure wouldn't mind."  
  
He smiled sadly. "I'll think about it."  
  
He paused. "Mom? Can I ask you something?"  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Do you miss Chrome?"  
  
Akemi blinked, then smiled. "Of course I do, honey. I miss him everyday."  
  
"Then why didn't you let me kill Ren Tao? Surely, I had enough furoku to that and..."  
  
"Nichrome." Akemi cut in. "I DO miss your brother. But I wouldn't let you kill another shaman just to revenge him. I'm sure he couldn't want you to do it either. If you HAD killed him, then I'm sure his family will be in as much pain as we are."  
  
"But, I..."  
  
"I know you missed you brother, but I'm sure killing someone else won't make him come back..."  
  
Nichrome suddenly stood up, slamming his hand on the table at the same time. "I just remembered, I have something important to do."  
  
"I've got to go." He said, heading for the door.  
  
"What? But you just came back!"  
  
"I know." He replied softly. "But I've still got something to take care of." He said before walking out.  
  


.........................

  
  
The girl behind the counter smiled at him. "Three bouquets of roses? Girlfriend's birthday?" She guess, handing him the change.  
  
"No." Nichrome replied. "Her death day."  
  
The reception girl paused, then frowned slightly. "Oh, sorry. Here's your change, 340 yens. Please come again."  
  
He made a small "hm" noise before walking out of the flower shop.  
  
The trip to the village graveyard wasn't that long. He only had to walk there.  
  
He looked down at the three head stones, then slowly laid the flowers there.  
  
The stones were cracked and old, but he could still make out what it was saying.  
  
HANAGUMI TEAM. DIED IN BATTLE DURING SHAMAN TOURNAMENT.  
  
He sighed, sitting down.  
  
"Hey." He muttered softly, always expecting an answer. "Sorry I couldn't visit you guys enough. Opacho says she misses you three, and Hao-sama sent his greetings before his last fight." He paused. "He lost."  
  
Silence.  
  
"And I miss you all too." He continued. "Its one of those times when I turned around to look behind my shoulder, and still expect to see you three chattering. Its just that..."  
  
He sighed. "Mom was talking to me about it, and I know I can't hide from it forever. But really, what -AM- I going to do with my life?"  
  
"I know its stupid, and I'm suppose to go back to being normal after the tournament and all but.... I can't just go to school the next day and act like none of these things ever happened. I can't act like you guys never existed, and I... I never tried hard enough to save you guys."  
  
He stopped, biting on his lower lip. "I just wish that it could've been -ME- that was judging your fight that days. Then, you could've never... Its all just my fault."  
  
The boy sighed again. "Sorry, Mari. You too, Macchi and Kanna....."  
  
Soft wind blew by, slightly messing up his bangs. "I couldn't save you guys, and I couldn't save Hao-sama. What kind of friend am I?"  
  
"Its not only that, I never -DID- do anything helpful. I couldn't save Chrome, and I didn't have the hearts to revenge him by killing Ren Tao. I was too stubborn and left Nyorai go her own ways, and in the end, she still got hurt. Plus... I couldn't help you three.... I let you die."  
  
He sighed, looking up at the sky. "I couldn't help any of you at all. And now, I'm the only one that's still alive.... It makes me feel bad. Because, if I couldn't help save any of you, why am I the only one that walked off still alive?"  
  
He chuckled lightly before standing up. "Sorry if I sound too stupid or anything, but its still kind of hard to grasp the fact I probably won't see you anymore." His green eyes fell sad. "Anyway, I miss you. All of you."  
  
Nichrome smiled slightly. "Anyway, happy birthday. I hope you have a nice time in Haven." He paused. "Haven, Hell. Wherever you're more happy."  
  
More soft wind blew by.  
  
He turned around to see a blond girl standing behind him.  
  
She paused before looking down her gravestone. Her transparent hand clutched tighter to her doll.  
  
"Mari misses you too, Nichrome-kun. But Mari wouldn't be happy either if you died." She said, smiling.  
  
And to Nichrome, that's when everything started to make sense.  
  
- fin  
  
WHA! My first Nichrome fic! I'm so happy, its finally finished! I just love this pairing! Mari and Nichrome forever!  
  
To answer a few questions: Mari was the one that had her birthday and the Hanagumis died during on of the Shaman fights.  
  
Anyway, if you want more info, please visit my SK couple shine at http:e, sue me. lolz.  
  
Last, but not least. R & R  
  
Anyway, I hope you liked it. Gotta go, ja 


End file.
